The Celtics have just two road victories against teams better than .500, but they did provide a solid test. The Bulls finally pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 94-80 victory, improving their mark to 30-14 since Jan. 1.

The Bulls trailed by as many as eight points in the second quarter but got back to even shortly after Kirk Hinrich outraced Jerryd (CQ) Bayless for a loose ball and fed Noah for lefty lay-in. Hinrich missed a 3-point try, but Butler cleaned it up for a 48-48 tie.

Chicago took command by scoring the first 13 points of the final quarter. The highlight: Gibson slamming one down on Kris (CQ) Humphries, who already gets heckled as the former groom of Kim Kardashian (CQ).

The Bulls dominated in the fourth after going to school on Boston one day earlier.

“It’s the same plays,” Thibodeau said, “so there’s a tendency for players to know what’s coming.”

Celtics coach Brad Stevens said that playing back-to-backs against the same opponent was no big deal.

“Unless they had more traffic going home and didn’t get to bed any earlier, I’d say it doesn’t have any impact on either team,” he said. “The biggest thing is, we don’t have Rondo.”